^toebenboro'^ (€f)eo*O0icai J^orfc? 



Arcana Coelestia, ten volumes. 
Heaven and Hell. 
Apocalypse Explained, six volumes. 
Four Doctrines: 

The Lord.— The Sacred Scripture.— Faith. 
—Life. 

Summary Exposition of the Prophets 

and Psalms. 
Divine Love and Wisdom. 
Divine Providence. 
Apocalypse Revealed, two volumes. 
Conjugial Love. 
Miscellaneous Writings : 

The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doc- 
trine.— Brief Exposition.— Intercourse be- 
tween the Soul and the Body.— The White 
Horse.— Earths in the Universe.— The Last 
Judgment. 

True Christian Religion. 

'Published by 

The American Swedenborg Printing & 

Publishing Society, 

3 West Twenty-Ninth St., New York. 

'Descriptive Catalogues on application. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap. Copyright No. 

SheffliQ. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG 



THE SERVANT OF THE LORD 



A TRUE STORY 
FOR THE YOUNG 



C. TH. ODHNER 



NEW YORK 

THE NEW CHURCH BOARD OF PUBLICATION 

3 West Twenty-Ninth Street 

1900 



85306 

/Library of Congress 

Iwo Copies Rtccwto 

DEC 7 1900 



No 



SECOND COPY 

Oeliwred to 

ORDER DIVISION 

IAN 11 1901 



0^ 



Copyright, 1900, by 
Carl Theophilus Odhner 



Braunworth, Munn & Barber 

Printers and Binders 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 



f 



THIS "BRIEF ACCOUNT OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG 
IS 'DEDICATED 

TO ANY YOUNG READER IT mAY FIND, 

IN THE HOPE THAT IT CM AY ASSIST IN AWAKENING IN 

HIM OR HER A ^DESIRE FOR FURTHER KNOWLEDGE 

OF THIS WONDERFUL SERVANT OF THE LORD, 

AND OF THE [MANY GLORIOUS THINGS 

WHICH HAVE "BEEN REVEALED 

THROUGH HIM 

FOR THE CROWN OF CHURCHES. 



CONTENTS 



I. His Childhood and Youth page 9 

Sweden and the Swedes ; Emanuel Swedenborg born 29 
Jan. 1688; his father, Jesper Swedberg ; Emanuel's Child- 
hood ; his Mother's Death ; his Education. 



II. His Travels and Early Works, 20 

His First Foreign Journey ; his Studies in England ; 
Returning Home ; Charles XII. ; Emanuel in favor with 
the King ; his Services to the King ; Emerentia Polheim ; 
his Earliest Writings. 



III. SWEDENBORG AS A SCIENTIST AND PHILOSOPHER,. . . 35 

Brighter Times ; Swedenborg as a Patriot ; his First 
Great Works in Science; the " Principia;" the Purpose 
of his Studies ; a long Journey ; his Works on the Hu- 
man Body ; his Search for the Soul. 



IV. The Opening of his Spiritual Sight 46 

Remarkable Dreams and Signs ; the Lord reveals Him- 
self to Swedenborg ; the Vision in the Inn ; Promise of 
the Lord's Second Coming; the State of the Christian 
World ; why the Lord came again ; the Spiritual World 
opened to Swedenborg; Swedenborg's Inspiration. 



EMANUEL SlVEDENBORG 



V. SWEDENBORG THE REVELATOR, 57 

The Arcana Coelestia ; the Spiritual World ; the World 
of Spirits; Hell and its life of Misery; Heaven and its 
life of Happiness ; Other Writings of the New Church. 



VI. A Visit to Swedenborg, 67 

The Fire in Stockholm ; the Queen's Secret; Sweden- 
borg's Home; his Study; his Garden; Swedenborg-'s 
Appearance; his Personal Habits; his Last Days; his 
Death. 



VII. SWEDENBORG'S RULES OF LIFE 95 

Appendix I. Children in Heaven, 97 

Appendix II. List of References, 112 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Map of Southern Sweden and Norway,. . . .facing title 

View of Stockholm page 10 

Bishop Jesper Swedberg, Swedenborg's Father, ... 13 

View of Upsala in Swedenborg's Time, 15 

Ericus Benzelius, Swedenborg's Instructor, .... 18 

Charles XII., the "Madman of the North,". ... 25 

Christopher Polheim, 30 

Ulrica Eleonora, Queen of Sweden, 34 

Emanuel Swedenborg in 1734, 38 

Carl von Linne (Linnaeus) 42 

Emanuel Swedenborg in 1766, 56 

View of the Royal Palace in Stockholm 69 

Swedenborg's House and Garden 77 

Swedenborg's Summer House 81 

Swedenborg in his Parlor, 87 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG 



His Childhood and Youth 

Away up in the most northern part &fc>e&en and 
of Europe there is a land of great for- 
ests and wide lakes, of rushing rivers and 
fertile plains, of mountains rich in iron and 
copper, — a land where the snow lies deep 
and the days are short in the winter, but 
where there is no night in summer time. 
It is a land of beauty, poetry, and song, 
where dwells a free-born race of people, 
brave and hardy, both men and women tall 
and strong, with flaxen hair, blue eyes, and 
bright complexion. The beautiful city of 
Stockholm is the capital of this country. 
It is built partly on islands and partly on 
the mainlands to the north and south ; to 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 



10 



the east and west it is surrounded by thou- 
sands of islets, green and smiling on the 
rippling waters. 




STOCKHOLM 



€manuef Here, on the twenty-ninth of January, 

born 29 fan., in the year 1688, a little boy was born, 
a child who in the merciful Providence 
of the Lord was raised up to serve his 
Divine Master and all mankind by the most 
wonderful and glorious work that ever has 
been given any man to do. 



II HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 

To this child was given the name Eman- 
uel, which signifies God-with-us, for his fa- 
ther hoped that God would be ever with 
the boy and he with God ; and truly this 
Emanuel showed himself worthy of his 
name. Throughout his life he walked hum- 
bly with God, and in the sacred volumes 
which he wrote God speaks again with man 
and teaches them the real meaning of the 
Word. This was the mission of his life : 
to act as the Lord's intelligent and willing 
scribe in writing down and publishing the 
Lord's own explanation of the Scriptures. 
The Doftrine which is taught in the books 
which he wrote is known as the " Heavenly 
Doctrine of the New Jerusalem," and the 
Church which believes in it as the Lord's 
own teachings is called "the New Church." 
The reason it is so called is because the 
Do6lrine itself is something entirely new in 
the history of the Christian Church i\nd 
it will remain "new" forever, because no 
matter how much men may study this Doc- 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 12 

trine in ages to come they will always dis- 
cover new truths in it, new light from the 
Sun of Heaven shedding its glorious rays 
on the life of man in this world and in the 
world to come. Thus we will learn to do 
our Father's will as it is done in Heaven, 
and thus, by this Doftrine, the Lord will 
" make all things new." When you come 
to understand this, you will see for your- 
selves how great was the service for which 
this little boy Emanuel was born and raised 
up. 

K@s£ father, Emanuel's father, Jesper Swedberg, 

Sleeper &t»efci~ 

bcr0 was a very learned, wise and God-fear- 

ing man, who, when this story begins, was 
the chaplain or court-preacher to the king 
of Sweden. He was a true and faithful 
minister of God, who preached the Word 
mightily and fearlessly, flattering neither the 
king nor the people. But the king, Charles 
XL, liked his brave preacher all the better, 
and made him his trusted friend and coun- 
sellor. Jesper Swedberg was also a great 




BISHOP JESPER SVVEDBERG, SWEDENBORG'S FATHER 
BORN 1655, DIED 1735 



EMANUEL SWEDEN BORG 14 

writer ; he translated the whole Bible from 
the Hebrew into Swedish, composed beau- 
tiful hymns, and wrote a great many reli- 
gious books, in which he cried out against 
the evils of the people and against the false 
belief that men could be saved by faith 
alone without good works. But in spite of 
his plain speaking he became one of the 
greatest men in the kingdom, and his name 
is one of the most honored in the history 
of Sweden. 
€mamtef£ When Emanuel was four years old, 

his parents moved to Upsala, where his 
father became a professor of theology and 
superintendent of the great university in 
that city. The little boy now began to 
show that he was different, in some ways, 
from other children. He seemed to be con- 
stantly thinking about God, heaven, and 
spiritual things, and sometimes said things 
so astonishing, that his father and mother 
would say that angels must be speaking 
through his mouth. Ministers and learned 



15 



HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 




UPSALA IN SWEDENBORG'S TIME 



men often came to visit his father, and 
little Emanuel always liked to talk with 
them about "love and faith," saving that love 
is the first and highest of all things, and that 
faith would come to him who loves. And 
yet he was at the same time a lively little 
fellow, full of fun and play, like all healthy 
children. 

When he was eight years old a great \$i$ jteotbct's 
sorrow fell upon him, for his loving 



EMANUEL SWEDEN BORG 16 

mother died, leaving him behind with all 
his little brothers and sisters. Still, though 
he could see her no longer, he did not 
really lose her, for the angels always re- 
main near those whom they had loved in 
this world, and strive to make them think 
about the Lord and the life in heaven. 
Thus, no doubt, Emanuel was led to think 
all the more about the spiritual world, and 
in time the Lord gave him a great know- 
ledge on this subje6l, and allowed him to 
meet his mother in the other life. 

Nor was he left long without a mother's 
care, even in this world, for after a time 
his father married again, and his new mo- 
ther w^as a very kind and gentle lady, who 
became a true mother to her many little 
step-children. She was also quite wealthy, 
and when she died, many years afterwards, 
she left a great deal of her money to Eman- 
uel, who thus could afford to travel much 
in foreign lands, and to print the many and 
costly books which the Lord commanded 



11 HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 

him to write for the use of the New 
Church. 

In the year 1703, the king appointed ^ €bucatlon 
Jesper Swedberg to the office of Bishop 
in the city of Skara (he was also Bishop 
of the Swedish churches in the colonies of 
" New Sweden," which were situated on the 
banks of the Delaware river in North Amer- 
ica). Emanuel was now left in Upsala in 
order to finish his education at the college 
and the university, and he lived during this 
time with his elder sister, who had married 
Dr. Eric Benzelius, one of the most learned 
men in Europe, who finally became arch- 
bishop of Sweden. This brother-in-law of 
his took the place of a " second father" to 
Emanuel, who received a thoroughly good 
education from him and other famous teach- 
ers. We know but little of his life while 
at school, but it is clear that he was a 
quick and diligent student, or he would not 
have been able to write, soon afterwards, 
with so much learning and good judgment 




ERICUS BENZELIUS, SWEDENBORG'S INSTRUCTOR 
BORN 1675, DIED 1743 



19 HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 

on so great a variety of subje<5ts. He stud- 
ied especially the great philosophers of an- 
cient Greece and Rome, and from them, 
and from the Word of God, he learned to 
think clearly. This ability is not so com- 
mon as might be supposed, but it has al- 
ways been found more pra6lically useful 
than the greatest amount of memorized book- 
learning. When, in the year 1709, he fin- 
ished his course at the university, he was 
considered by his professors a well-prepared 
and talented young man, from whom great 
things were expected. As we will see, he 
did not disappoint his teachers. 



II 



His Travels and Early Works 

©is Jfirst if or- Emanuel Swedberg was now twenty - 

eion f ournep t , \ • t ., ,1 , , 

one years of age, and his father thought 

it would be well to let him travel abroad 
for some years, in order to study at the 
great universities in England, Holland, 
France, and Germany, where he could also 
perfect his knowledge of the foreign lan- 
guages, and become acquainted with a wider 
world than Sweden. And so in September, 
1 710, he started out on his first foreign jour- 
ney, travelling by sea from Gottenburg to 
London. 

If he had hoped for a lively time, he 
certainly had enough of it on this trip, for 
he was near losing his life not less than 

four times. First his ship was nearly wrecked 

20 






21 HIS TRAVELS AND EARLY WORKS 

on some hidden rocks ; then it was chased 
by Danish pirates ; next it was fired on by 
an English man-of-war, which mistook it 
for one of the pirate-boats ; and finally, when 
the young traveller arrived in London, he 
came near being hanged bv the government 
there. It happened that a pestilence was 
raging in Sweden at this time, and as the 
Londoners still remembered the terrible 
plague of 1665, thev had made it a law that 
all travellers- from Sweden must remain in 
quarantine on their ships for six weeks be- 
fore landing, or be punished bv instant 
death. The young Swede had never heard 
of this new law, and so he went ashore 
right away, but was arrested at once, and 
would really have been hanged if the Swed- 
ish ambassador had not helped him out of 
his trouble. 

In spite of this inhospitable reception m$ Studies 
Emanuel Swedberg fell greatly in love 
with the English people and their free in- 
stitutions. The love of freedom was bred 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 22 

into his very bones, for he came of the only 
people in Europe which had not allowed it- 
self to be oppressed by the nobility during 
the Dark Ages. Nevertheless, just at this 
time the king had gained all power in 
Sweden and could do what he pleased, 
while the English, not very long before, 
had deposed that evil despot, James II., who 
had tried to force the Roman Catholic 
Church upon the people. Now there was 
freedom in England, greater freedom than 
in any other country, freedom of thought 
and of speech, and freedom for each one to 
worship God in the way of his own con- 
science. 

On account of this freedom the English 
had greater spiritual light than any other 
nation ; a great interest in all kinds of study 
and science had lately grown up in England, 
and greater teachers were to be found there 
than anywhere else in Europe. This was 
therefore the best possible place for a studi- 
ous young man, and so Emanuel Swedberg 



23 HIS TRAVELS AND EARLY WORKS 

remained two whole years in England, dili- 
gently studying astronomy, chemistry, phys- 
ics, mathematics, and other sciences. He 
always took his lodgings in the houses of 
various mechanics, and learned from them 
the latest improvements in machinery and 
in the art of making scientific instruments. 
He was wide awake to everything that 
might be of use to his own countrymen, 
and studied and worked so hard that he 
nearly fell ill. Then, to rest and amuse 
himself, he took to writing poetry in the 
Latin tongue. This would be considered 
hard work by any student nowadays, but 
Emanuel Swedberg felt rather ashamed of 
such " child's play." 

From England he travelled to Hoi- Returning 
land, and was present at the great 
" Peace Conference " in the city of Utrecht, 
where representatives from nearly all the 
countries in Europe had assembled to settle 
the long and bloody " War of the Spanish 
Succession " (a quarrel as to who should be 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 24 

the king of Spain). He then went to Paris, 
where he remained nearly a year, continu- 
ing his scientific studies, examining libraries 
and workshops, becoming acquainted with 
learned and famous men, and making every 
possible use of his time. He next visited 
various universities in Germany, and finally, 
just as a new war broke out, managed to 
get home to Sweden after an absence of 
four years. 
^ r <> vii There were now bad times in Swe- 

den, as bad as they could be. The good 
king Charles XL, Jesper Swedberg's friend, 
had died in 1697, and his son, Charles XII., 
was only a boy when he came to the throne. 
The young king was one of the most re- 
markable persons in history. Very tall and 
of great physical strength, brave as a lion in 
battle, quick to understand and to plan, and 
gifted with many talents which might have 
made him a blessing to his country and to 
the whole world, he nevertheless ruined both 
himself and his people by his insane obstin- 




CHARLES XII., "THE MADMAN OF THE NORTH 
BORN 1682, DIED I7l8 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG 26 

acy and self-will, by his revengefulness and 
hellish lust for war and dominion over the 
earth. When he w r as only sixteen years of 
age, Russia, Poland, and Denmark declared 
war against him at one and the same time, 
but young as he was he crushed all his 
enemies with lightning speed, although the 
opposing armies outnumbered his own ten 
to one. Soon he came to be considered the 
wonder of the age, the greatest hero in the 
world, and if he now had been willing to 
make peace he could have made Sweden 
one of the most powerful nations in Europe. 
But he never had enough of fighting, and 
when he attacked Russia without a just 
cause, in the year 1708, he was wounded 
in a battle, his army was beaten and cap- 
tured by Czar Peter the Great, and he 
himself had to flee to Turkey. His people 
now begged him to come back to Sweden ; 
but for an answer he sent home one of his 
old boots, saying that this was a good 
enough king for the Swedes. But he al- 



27 HIS TRAVELS AND EARLY WORKS 

ways wanted more money and new armies, 
and so in time he utterly ruined his coun- 
try. No money was left in the land, the 
young men and the horses were nearly all 
killed, and the women had to drag the 
plows and till the fields. Finally, when 
beaten everywhere, he had to return to 
Sweden in 171 5, but right away he began 
to prepare for a new war against Denmark. 

Such were the conditions in Sweden €manuei m 
u t? 1 c 11 u 1 fatoor ton* tfce 

when bmanuel Swedberg came back to Mm 

his home. His learning and talents were 
now made known to the king, who was not 
slow to make use of him. Charles XII. 
was especially fond of mathematics and me- 
chanical arts ; and as young Swedberg had 
made some great inventions while abroad, 
and had become one of the best mathema- 
ticians of that time he became quite a fa- 
vorite with the king, who appointed him to 
the office of an "Assessor " at the College 
of Mines. This did not mean that he was 
to be a teacher in a school, but he was to 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 28 

assist in supervising the work of mining in 
Sweden, and to show the miners the best 
methods of getting the ore out of the moun- 
tains, and how to smelt it so as to make 
pure iron or copper. He became very skil- 
ful in this useful art, and wrote some great 
works about it. 
i^i* services to But he was not yet to begin his 

work as " Assessor," for the king com- 
manded him to assist the great engineer, 
Christopher Polheim, in building a great 
canal from Stockholm to Gottenburg, right 
across Sweden. This canal was not com- 
pleted until more than a hundred years 
afterwards, but there is still a sluice near 
the great falls of Trollhattan, which is 
called " the Swedenborg sluice." Then, when 
Charles XII. declared war against Denmark 
and marched against Norway (which at that 
time was a Danish province), Emanuel Swed- 
berg did a great service to the king by con- 
structing a contrivance by which a number 
of warships were dragged seventeen miles 



29 HIS TRAVELS AND EARLY WORKS 

over land and mountains, and thereby were 
saved from capture by the enemy. 

During this period he lived at the Emerentia 
house of his friend Polheim, who had a ™ 

very pretty young daughter, Emerentia, with 
whom Emanuel Swedberg was deeply in 
love. The young couple became engaged, 
and the father gave the young man a writ- 
ten promise that Emerentia should be his 
wife as soon as she would come of age. 
But the young lady, who was only sixteen 
years old, changed her mind, and fell in love 
with another gentleman, a young officer 
whose head was not so full of mathematics 
and scientific inventions. She now began 
to sigh and worry so much about her en- 
gagement that her brother took pity on her 
and one day stole the written marriage- 
promise from the desk in which it was kept. 
The theft was soon discovered, and Polheim 
commanded his son to return the paper, but 
Emanuel refused to take it, declaring that 
he would never marry any girl against her 




CHRISTOPHER POLHE1M 
BORN \66\, DIED 1751 



31 HIS TRAVELS AND EARLY WORKS 

own free will, and so the engagement came 
to an end. 

This was the last time he looked for a 
wife in this world. It was his sad lot to 
live alone his whole life long, without a 
loving partner or children of his own. This 
must have been hard to bear, for he was 
always exceedingly fond of little children 
and of the company of refined women, but 
it is said that many years afterwards while 
he still lived in this world, he found the 
angel w r ife in heaven with whom he was to 
live to all eternity. 1 * 

Turning sadly from all thoughts of $$ earliest 
love he now sought consolation in still 
greater work and stud) 7 , for the advance- 
ment of science and the good of his country. 
We may gain some idea of his diligence and 
learning from the fa<5t that he wrote not less 
than twenty-one different works within the 



* The authority for this, and for some other statements 
made in this work, will be found in Appendix II., see pp. 
112, 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 32 

next five years. Most of these were only 
small books, it is true, but they were on a 
great variety of subjects, all of which re- 
quired much study as well as practical know- 
ledge. Thus he wrote accounts of his vari- 
ous mechanical inventions and scientific dis- 
coveries, such as the construftion of air- 
pumps, ear-tubes, and flying-machines, on 
the methods of mining and smelting ore, on 
the building of sluices and canals, on the 
nature of fire and color, on the manufafture 
of salt, on the regulation of the coinage, 
and on various astronomical, geological, and 
mathematical subje6ls, ending up this period 
of his aftivity with a highly interesting little 
work on Tremnlation, in which he shows that 
all our sensations are produced by little vib- 
rations in the skins and membranes of the 
body. Most of these little works were writ- 
ten in the Swedish language, but all the 
books which he published afterwards were 
written in Latin. 

All these works might have been of great 



33 HIS TRAVELS AND EARLY WORKS 

use to his countrymen, but the people were 
at this time too much worried with poverty, 
war, famine, and every kind of distress, to 
pay attention to his writings and discoveries ; 
and w^hen his great friend, Charles XII., 
"the madman of the North," was killed in 
1 71 8, Emanuel Swedberg felt greatly dis- 
couraged, and for a while he thought of 
leaving Sweden in order to seek a home in 
some happier land. 




ULRICA ELEONORA, QUEEN OF SWEDEN 
BORN 1688, DIED 1741 



Ill 



Swedenborg as a Scientist and Philosopher 



But as he waited patiently, brighter %x\%Wt 
times came both for Sweden and for 
himself. The new ruler, queen Ulrica Eleo- 
nora, the sister of Charles XII., was a good 
and sensible woman, who stopped the war, 
restored freedom, and looked after the real 
welfare of the country. She now reward- 
ed the long and faithful services of Bishop 
Swedberg and his son by raising the family 
to the rank of nobility. According to the 
Swedish custom the family now changed its 
name from Swedberg to Swedenborg. This 
name is not derived from " Sweden," but 
from a word which means a clearing in the 
forest. From this time on, Emanuel Swed- 
berg was known as Emanuel Sivedenborg. 

35 



EMANUEL SJVEDENBORG 36 

^toebenfrottt ^ s ^ e h ea d °^ a n °ble family, Eman- 

a? a patriot ue l now had the right to a seat and 
vote in the " House of Nobles" of the Swed- 
ish Diet or Congress, corresponding to the 
House of Lords in the English Parliament. 
His new honor did not make him proud, 
however, but inspired him with a still 
greater desire to be of use to his fellow- 
citizens. With him the love of country was 
next to the love of God, but he always held 
that liberty, enlightenment, and virtue were 
greater blessings for a country than war, 
conquest, and glory. As a member of the 
Diet his voice was therefore always in favor 
of peace, reform, and education, and he 
proposed many measures which helped to 
develop the suffering trade, manufactures, 
and finances of Sweden. Among other 
things he suggested a plan for regulating 
and restricting the manufacture and sale of 
strong liquors; his proposition was adopted 
many years afterwards, and has helped to 



37 SCIENTIST AND PHILOSOPHER 

decrease the drunkenness which used to be 

dreadfully common in Sweden. 

In the year 1721 Swedenborg again $is first great 
1 1 1 c c ■ WziU on 

left Stockholm for a new foreign journey. Science 

He travelled first to Holland, where he 
published several new books ; the most im- 
portant of these was a work on chemistry, 
in which he explains in an entirely new 
way the formation of crystals and the form 
of the finest particles which compose the 
various substances in the mineral kingdom. 
He next went to Germany, where he exam- 
ined a great number of mines, and pub- 
lished another scientific work. 

Returning home, he now remained M ^ , 
in Stockholm eleven years, working in 
the College of Mines, attending the Diet, and 
preparing a great work treating of the be- 
ginnings of all natural things. This book is 
known as the Principia, a truly magnificent 
work, in which he gives an altogether new 
explanation of the manner in which this 
earth and all other planets were created 




EMANUEL SWEDENBORG IN 1734 



39 SCIENTIST ANT) PHILOSOPHER 

from the sun, and how the various elements 
were produced. Man} T philosophers have 
tried to explain these things, but nobody 
has ever been able to make these secrets of 
nature so plain as Swedenborg did in this 
book. At the same time he wrote two great 
works on Iron and Copper, and a beautiful 
book on The Infinite, in which he presents 
his clear and noble ideas about the infinite 
nature of God and the connection between 
the soul and the body. When all was ready, 
he undertook a third journey abroad in 
order to publish his new books in Germany. 
He Avas now beginning to be known as one 
of the most learned men in Europe. 

But Swedenborg never cared for ^e purpose 
fame and worldly glory; Truth was the *«***«* 
treasure which he sought for with an ar- 
dent love. His one aim was to show that 
nature had not created itself, but that above 
nature there is a God of infinite wisdom 
and love, and that within the body of man 
there is a soul which is to live forever. 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 40 

This, of course, is known from the Word of 
God, but many of the learned did not be- 
lieve in the Word, and Swedenborg there- 
fore tried to show them their error by prov- 
ing in a scientific way the connexion be- 
tween God and His creation. But since 
Man is the most perfeft thing in Nature, 
Swedenborg now turned his attention to 
the study of the human body, which is the 
habitation of the soul and the image and 
likeness of God Himself. 
% long four- In order to complete his knowledge 

of the human body by examining the 
greatest works on anatomy in the various 
libraries in Europe, he set out on a fourth 
foreign journey, in the year 1736. This time 
he kept an account of his travels, writing 
down, day by day, short descriptions of the 
many interesting things he saw while visit- 
ing Germany, Holland, France, and Italy, 
together with observations on the character 
of the people and the form of the govern- 
ment in these countries. On his way home 



41 SCIENTIST ANT) PHILOSOPHER 

he published his great work, The Economy 
of the Animal Kingdom, in Holland, and 
then returned to Sweden in 1740. He was 
now considered a very great man even in 
his own country, and was made a member 
of the Academy of Sciences, a society of 
the most learned men in Sweden, of which 
the famous Linnaeus, the " king of flowers/* 
was the president. But he did not remain 
long at home, for in 1743 he was again in 
Holland, ready to publish another great 
work on the human body. This book was 
entitled The Animal Kingdom. 

The human body looks very simple ©is tooths on 
from without, but so many w r onderlul <25obp 

and intricate things are contained within 
the skin, that the most learned do6lors will 
never be able to describe all of them. The 
finest and purest things in nature are col- 
lected in the body of man, and the science 
of anatomy is therefore the noblest and 
highest of all natural sciences. Without some 
knowledge of anatomy, a man cannot really 




CARL VON LINNE (LINN/EUS) 
BORN 1707, DIED 1778 



43 SCIENTIST ANT> PHILOSOPHER 

know himself, for if he looks at his body 
from the outside only, he will never under- 
stand what is going on within, and even if 
he were to cut up a dead body and look 
at the internal parts through the strongest 
microscope, he would still see only the out- 
side of those parts. The things within, the 
real life in the body and all its parts, can 
be seen only with the eye of the rational 
understanding. 

This was the instrument which Sweden- 
borg used in his studies of the human 
body. He looked with his reason at the 
things which other men had discovered 
with their dissecting knives and microscopes, 
and he looked not so much for the mere 
form and position of the various vessels 
and organs, as for the " why " and the 
" wherefore," the purpose, reason, and use 
of all things in the body. On this account, 
and also because he always remembered 
that the body is the sacred temple of a 
soul, the mysteries of the human frame were 



EMANUEL SIVEUENBORG 44 

opened to him in a light such as has never 
been given to another man. And thus, by 
learning the genuine truth concerning the 
kingdoms of nature, his mind was prepared 
to receive, afterwards, the revelation of the 
Divine Truth concerning the spiritual King- 
dom of God. 
$f# ?earcf) for In the course of his studies Sweden- 

borg resembles a man who is climbing 
higher and higher up a mountain-side. From 
the mines and minerals in the ground his 
thoughts had risen to the sun and stars, and 
then to the still higher study of the living 
form of man. And now, after he had mas- 
tered every natural science and had come to 
those inner recesses of human nature where 
the spirit dwells, he tried to lift the veil 
from the invisible in order to discover the 
very soul itself. For this purpose Sweden- 
borg made a deep study of the mind of 
man, the will and the understanding, the 
affeftions and the thoughts. Higher and 
higher soared his inquiring spirit, until he 



45 SCIENTIST ANT> PHILOSOPHER 

felt that he stood upon the threshold of a 
higher world, into which no man can pene- 
trate by his own understanding, any more 
than a camel can enter through the eye of 
a needle. Glimpses of truth were given to 
him, grand laws of universal order, which 
he has written down in his beautiful works 
on The Soul and on The Worship and Love 
of God. But with all his learning and his 
labors he had not been able to discover the 
real truth concerning the soul and its im- 
mortal life. He knew he could go no fur- 
ther by himself, and bowed in deep humility 
before his God, who alone could reveal 
what is invisible. He had now, as it were, 
reached the very top of the mountain of 
human knowledge. Above this there was 
nothing more, — except heaven itself, which 
now was opened to him by the Lord. 



IV 



The Opening of his Spiritual Sight 

ftematfcatrte For some years Swedenborg" had 

Steams an& m J ° 

^>!0n? noticed a wonderful change coming into 

his life. While writing some of his books, 
there had appeared, at times, flames and 
strange lights before his eyes, and he had 
understood that these were signs from heav- 
en to show that he had written what is 
true. Remarkable dreams also came to him 
at night, so peculiar that he thought they 
must have some hidden meaning. After a 
while he began to write down some of these 
dreams, and tried to explain to himself what 
they could signify. Thus he walked for 
some time as it were in a twilight between 
natural and spiritual light ; it was the dawn 
of a new age, not only for himself but for 
all mankind. 



47 THE OPENING OF HIS SPIRITUAL SIGHT 

Finally, in the year 1743, the light (Sfte Bort re-- 

J ' J /HO ' s Heals ^imseif 

of heaven first broke through the clouds to&tae&enborg 

in his natural mind, for then the Lord Jesus 
Christ appeared in person to Swedenborg 
and called him to serve in that holy use for 
which he had been prepared from his child- 
hood. Of this first manifestation of the Lord 
we have no particular account, but He ap- 
peared twice again to Swedenborg before 
the latter w^as fully introduced into the 
spiritual world. When the Lord appeared 
the second time, Swedenborg tells us that 
he " lay upon His bosom and looked at Him 
face to face. It was a countenance with an 
holy expression, and such that it cannot be 
described ; it was also smiling, and I truly 
believe that such had been His face while 
He lived on earth. " This took place in 
Holland in the year 1744. 2 

The third manifestation took place at (OTfte Vision in 
London, in 1745, while Swedenborg sat 
at table in an inn, eating with unusual appe- 
tite. Suddenly everything became dim be- 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 48 

fore his eyes, but after a while he saw a 
mass of horrid reptiles on the floor. These 
disappeared after a feAv minutes, and then 
he noticed a man in a corner of the room, 
who said to him, " Eat not so much." Swed- 
enborg was quite frightened at all this, and 
all became black in the room, but when the 
darkness cleared away he found himself 
alone as before. He then went home, but 
during the following night the same man 
appeared again to Swedenborg, revealing 
Himself as the Creator and Redeemer of 
the world, and promising to explain to him 
the hidden or internal sense of the Sacred 
Scriptures.* 
promise of tfce In order that we may understand 

onti Coming why the Lord revealed Himself to Swed- 
enborg, we must first call to mind the 
promise which He gave to the disciples 



* Swedenborg was afterwards instructed that the rep- 
tiles which he saw represented the unclean desires of the 
body, such as the lust of eating or drinking too much, 
which a man must overcome and cast out of himself be- 
fore he can rise above his animal nature. 3 



49 THE OPENING OF HIS SPIRITUAL SIGHT 

before He left this world. He promised that 
He would come again to those who loved 
Him, but this time He was to appear "in 
the clouds of heaven with power and great 
glory." This was spoken in a parable, but 
the Christians have not understood it, and 
therefore many are still expecting that the 
Lord will some day appear in a natural 
cloud and establish an earthly kingdom. 
They do not know that He has already 
come in the clouds of licaven, and has be- 
gun to establish a heavenly kingdom among 
men. The Jews, in the same way, do not 
yet know that the Lord was born in Beth- 
lehem, but they are still expecting the Mes- 
siah to appear in Jerusalem, and make Him- 
self the king over the whole earth. But the 
Lord is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life/' 
and His name is " the Word of God." By the 
"clouds" in which He was to appear, He 
meant those things in the Scriptures which 
are difficult to understand, and by His 
" appearing " in these clouds He meant that 



EMANUEL SlVEDENBORG 50 

He Himself would come as the Divine Truth 
and explain the glorious and heavenly things 
which are hidden in the parables and sym- 
bols of the written Word. When the gen- 
uine truth appears in the Word to men, 
then " the Son of Man " is again speaking 
with His beloved, teaching them to do His 
will as it is done in heaven ; then the Word 
has real " power " with men, and then the 
" glory of God" appears in the Scriptures, 
the " clouds" are then no longer dark, but 
are beaming with the splendor of heavenly 

Hght. 

($1)e &tate of The Christian world was, indeed, in 

tbe Christian 

fflavlb the greatest need of the Divine reve- 
lation which the Lord was now about to 
give through Swedenborg, for the church 
which called itself from the name of Christ 
had become thoroughly perverted and cor- 
rupt, and no longer worshipped the Lord 
Jesus Christ as the only God of heaven and 
earth. The old Christian church now held 
as its fundamental do6lrine that God was 



51 THE OPENING OF HIS SPIRITUAL SIGHT 

divided into three different persons, and 
that each one of these persons was God by 
himself, and so they really worshipped three 
gods. The Word of God had been explained 
in one way by one great teacher, and in 
a totally different way by another, until it 
had been so twisted and turned that no- 
body understood its real meaning. The 
people had been forbidden to try to under- 
stand the teachings of the Lord and the 
doftrines of the church ; they only had to 
believe blindly what popes and councils had 
commanded. Faith, blind belief, was the only 
thing considered necessary for salvation ; 
the worst rascal, it was taught, could go 
straight to heaven if he only believed, while 
a poor heathen, who might have a loving 
heart and lived well, but on account of 
his ignorance could not have faith, was 
condemned to hell by this cruel church. 
Faith alone was upheld as the essence of 
all true religion, but since there were so 
many different kinds of faith and no kind of 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 52 

mutual love, the church split up into hun- 
dreds of se6ls, each condemning and raging 
against all the rest, and so these perverted 
people, " Christians," robbed and fought and 
killed one another for more than a thousand 
years, until the Christian church had be- 
come more like a hell than a heaven. 
a^tbeHorb If " those days had not been short- 

came again ene( j^» jf this state of things had kept on 
much longer, no flesh could have been saved, 
for men would have totally destroyed each 
other, and the human race would have per- 
ished in eternal death. " But for the elecSt's 
sake " those days were shortened. While 
there were yet some simple, faithful and 
loving hearts among the Christians, the 
Lord revealed Himself in the truth of His 
Word. Nothing but the Divine Truth it- 
self could save these few remnants from the 
universal corruption. Only the Lord Him- 
self could explain the true meaning of His 
Word, and sweep away all the false teach- 
ings which had been spun about the'hu- 



5) THE OPENING OP HIS SPIRITUAL SIGHT 

man understanding. He came as the Truth 
to set free His people, and this Truth He 
chose to reveal through His servant, Eman- 
uel Swedenborg. 

In order that Swedenborg: might learn ®ht Spiritual 

& fe WMb opened 

to understand the Word as it is under- to&toetumborg 

stood in heaven, the Lord now opened to 

him the whole spiritual world, so that he 

was able to walk about there, and to speak 

with the spirits and angels just as really 

and actually as we walk about here on 

earth and speak with one another. This 

was not so difficult as it may seem, for the 

spiritual world is not very far away. The 

Lord Himself has taught us, " Behold, the 

kingdom of God is within yon." Every good 

•man carries heaven within himself, and 

every one of us is, in fa£t, even now in the 

spiritual world as to the spirit, although 

we do not know it, because our spiritual 

eyes are not opened until after death. But 

whenever the Lord in His mercy has given 

a new revelation to His people, He has al- 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 54 

ways opened the spiritual eyes of some one 
of His servants on earth. He did so in an- 
cient times to Moses and the prophets and 
the evangelists, and He did so now to 
Emanuel Swedenborg, but in a more per- 
fect manner than ever before. The won- 
ders of the spiritual world were opened to 
his eyes, the horrors of hell, and the glories 
of heaven, in order that through him all 
other men might receive a true knowledge 
of that world in which, after death, each 
one is to live for ever, 
^toebenboro^ Swedenborg now gave up his work 

in the College of Mines and all his 
studies in the natural sciences. Henceforth 
his life was given entirely and direftly to 
the service of the Lord, and the one thing 
which he now studied to the end of his 
days was the Word of God as it was first 
written in the Hebrew and Greek lan- 
guages. While thus studying he was given 
to know the genuine understanding of the 
Scriptures. No spirit, nor even any angel, 



55 THE OPENING OF HIS SPIRITUAL SIGHT 

was permitted to instruct him on this sub- 
ject, but the Lord alone taught him what 
to write in those great and many volumes 
which contain the do6lrines of the New 
Church. 




SWEDENBORG IN 1766 



Swedenborg the Revelator 

After a few years of preparatory study (tfre ftrcana^ 
of the Word and exploration of the spir- 
itual world, Swedenborg, in the year 1747, 
began to write the great work called The A r- 
cana Coelcstii, unfolding the " heavenly mys- 
teries " which are contained in the Sacred 
Scripture. This work,, which occupies many 
large volumes, was printed in London be- 
tween the years 1748 and 1756, and explains 
in a Divine light what is meant by the Cre- 
ation of the world, the Garden of Eden, 
the Fall of Man, the Flood, the Tower of 
Babel, the History of Abraham, Isaac and 
Jacob, the Captivity of the children of Is- 
rael in Egypt and their wanderings in the 
wilderness on the way to the land of Ca- 



EMANUEL SWEDEN BORG 58 

naan. Nobody had ever supposed that all 
this was anything else but just common his- 
tory, but in the Arcana Ccelestia it is shown 
that there is a much deeper meaning in 
these stories, and that the Lord in that in- 
ternal meaning has described the history of 
His Church among men, and how each man 
may be saved from hell, and led to his eter- 
nal home in the heavenly Canaan. 
($fre Spiritual Swedenborg was now daily among 

the angels and spirits in the other world 
at the same time that he was among the 
men on earth. The things which he heard 
and saw in the spiritual world, he has de- 
scribed at length in his Spiritual Diary and 
other works, but especially in the wonderful 
book on Heaven and Hell, in which we are 
taught about the real nature of life after 
death. This is especially a work for the 
young, for what child is there who has not 
asked, What is heaven like ? But how many 
parents, outside the New Church, are able 
to answer this question? 



59 SWEDENBORG THE REVEL ATOR 

In these books the Lord has revealed (£fre IBottti of 
that every man awakens in the spiritual 
world on the third day after his death on 
earth. The spirit is then very much surprised 
to find that he is really alive again, has a 
real human body, and is in a real world, with 
fields and gardens, rivers, mountains and 
seas. Angels are there to meet him and to 
teach him about the new world into which 
he has come. As yet he is neither in heaven 
or in hell, but in a world between these two, 
called the World of Spirits. Here all spirits, 
good or wicked, are together for some time 
in order to be examined and judged, each 
one according to his works. For mankind 
is like the harvest.growing in a field. Death 
is the reaper, and the World of Spirits is the 
threshing-floor where the chaff is separated 
from the wheat, where the good are chosen 
and the wicked rejefted. This judgment is 
effected by each one being allowed to fol- 
low his own bent or love in perfe6l free- 
dom. Those spirits who love the Lord and 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 60 

the neighbor, take pleasure in the company 
of the angels and follow them to places of 
instruction where they are taught concern- 
ing the true Christian religion, and then they 
are ready to enter heaven. But those who 
love themselves and their own pleasures 
above all things, soon become tired of their 
angel-guides. They rush away from them 
and seek companions like themselves. Thieves 
hunt up the dens of thieves, and drunkards 
seek the society of drunkards. Each wicked 
spirit loses all fear of punishment, and be- 
gins to commit all those evil deeds which 
he would have done here on earth if he 
had dared. And so each one casts himself 
v into hell, which he much prefers to heaven. 
Were he forced to go to heaven, against 
his own will, he would be like a fish out 
of water. He would not be able to endure 
the heavenly air of purity, truthfulness, and 
mutual love, but would suffer horrible tor- 
ments until allowed to return to his dark- 
ness and filth. 



61 SIVEDENBORG THE REVEL ATOR 

Hell is below the World of Spirits, if^efl anb its 
It is a world of darkness and horror, 
where the satans and devils dwell in hide- 
ous holes and caverns, among burning des- 
erts, stagnant bogs, and all sorts of fearful 
surroundings. All these unhappy spirits 
have at one time been men and women on 
the earth, but they now appear to the good 
like deformed monsters, or like fierce and 
filthy beasts. All of them are burning with 
hatred against the Lord, the angels, and 
even against one another. Each one wants 
to be master over all the rest, and finds his 
greatest joy in tormenting others. No one 
of them is willing to be of the least service 
to any one else, and therefore they are forced 
to work in prisons and workhouses, and 
are miserably punished for their evil deeds. 
Here they remain for ever, for they do not 
want to be saved ; yet the mercy of the Lord 
watches even over them, restraining them, 
and preventing them from casting them- 
selves into ever deeper damnation. 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 62 

beaten anb it£ Heaven, on the contrary, is a world 

fttfeof«awi-- J . 

ne?^ ot light, and love, and never-ending joy. 

The light is from the glorious Sun of heav- 
en, within which the angels are constantly 
beholding the loving face of their heavenly 
Father, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 
To do His will is the greatest joy of all 
the angels, and therefore they are constantly 
busy with useful work. Each one is given 
that special occupation or work which he 
enjoys the best. Some are in humble po- 
sitions and some in high, but all are simply 
servants of the Lord. All the angels have 
been men or women on the earth, who, af- 
ter a period of preparation and instruction 
in the World of Spirits, have been introduced 
into heaven, where each one is made a mem- 
ber of one of the innumerable heavenly socie- 
ties, and here he remains to eternity. Beau- 
tiful, shining garments are given to him by 
the Lord, and a lovely home among the 
many mansions in the Father's house. But 
the loveliest of all is this, that every man- 



63 SIVEDENBORG THE REVELATOR 

angel here finds his true conjugial partner, 
the beautiful and loving angel-wife with 
whom he will live forever. Everything is 
bright and beautiful in heaven ; everywhere 
there is happiness and health and youth. No- 
body ever grows old there ; even those who 
die on earth as old men and women at once 
begin to grow young in heaven, and finally 
they regain the strength and beauty of early 
youth. But you will find much more con- 
cerning all these glorious things in the works 
which Swedenborg wrote about Heaven and 
Hell and Conjugial Love. 

Beside these books Swedenborg wrote ^tber a^rit- 
. ° in0s of tfte 

nearly sixty other works, some large, jfretB Cimtcfr 

some small, in which he explained the Heav- 
enly Doftrines, of the New Jerusalem as the 
Lord taught him to write. Of these books I 
will mention only the following : 

The Earths in the Universe, in which are 
revealed most wonderful things concerning 
the people who live on other planets and dis- 
tant stars, how they look and live, and how 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 64 

they all worship no other God than our Lord 
Jesus Christ. This is a very interesting 
book for young readers. 

The Last Judgment, where Swedenborg 
describes how the wicked spirits in the other 
world were cast down into hell, so that they 
could no longer prevent good spirits from 
going to heaven. This took place in the 
year 1757. 

The Nezv Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doc- 
trine, in which we are taught that the " New 
Jerusalem " means the New Church, just as 
the old Jerusalem means the old church of 
the Jews and the perverted church of the 
Christians. The doftrine which this New 
Church is to acknowledge is called " heav- 
enly" doftrine because it is revealed by the 
Lord out of heaven. 

The Four Doctrines of the New Jerusalem. 
In this work are revealed the genuine teach- 
ings of the Word concerning the Lord, the 
Sacred Scripture, Life, and Faith, — the four 
fundamental doctrines of the New Church. 



65 SlVEDENBORG THE REVEL ATOR 

The Divine Love and Wisdom, which treats 
especially of the Lord as the Sun of heaven, 
and of the order in which the whole world 
was created. 

The Divine Providence, in which men are 
shown how the Lord not only created, but 
continually preserves and governs heaven 
and earth, w T ith all things therein, both great 
and small. 

The Apocalypse Revealed, and The Apoca- 
lypse Explained, two great works, in which is 
given the true explanation of the book called 
the " Apocalypse " or u Revelation of John." 
It is shown that this book, in the internal 
sense, treats of the New Church, the " Bride 
of the Lord," which will be built up in this 
world among those who are willing to be- 
lieve in and obey the heavenly doctrine of 
the New Jerusalem. 

The Brief Exposition of the Dottrine of the 
New Chnrch, in which it is shown how true 
this do6lrine is, and how false and mislead- 
ing are the do6lrines which are taught both 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 66 

by the Roman Catholic and the Protestant 
churches. 

The True Christian Religion, which was 
the last work published by Swedenborg 
himself. It contains a full explanation of all 
the doftrines of the New Church. 

All these works were originally written 
in Latin, but nearly all of them have now 
been translated into English, French and Ger- 
man. Many have been published in Swed- 
ish, Danish and Italian, and some even in 
the Icelandic, Welsh, Dutch, Polish, Russian, 
Hungarian, Spanish, Arabic and Hindu lan- 
guages. Some day they will be read by 
every nation on earth, and will fill this world 
with the light and joy of heaven. 



VI 



J{ Visit to Swedenborg 

Many interesting things have been told 
by a great many different people about 
Swedenborg himself ; how he looked and 
a6ted, and what kind of a home he had. In 
this chapter we have brought together many 
of these things and have woven them into 
a connected story, which, let us suppose, is 
told by some one of the many visitors who 
used to come to see Swedenborg at his 
home in Stockholm. All the incidents men- 
tioned are fa6ls ; it is a story only in form. 



"During the whole of the year 1769 the 
people in Sweden were greatly excited 
about the many wonderful things which 
were told respecting Emanuel Swedenborg, 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 68 

his conversations with people in the other 
world, and his new doftrines, which were 
much admired by the few who had read his 
books, but bitterly hated by the many who 
declared that they never had read and never 
would read his writings. I was myself at 
this time a young student at the university 
of Upsala, and had heard a great deal both 
for and against Swedenborg. Some said he 
was a prophet from God, and some said he 
was a madman, but all agreed in this, that 
he had said and done certain things which 
(€\)t iFire were, indeed, most remarkable. Once, 
for instance, he happened to be at a 
dinner-party in the city of Gottenburg, when 
he suddenly informed the company that a 
great fire had just then broken out in Stock- 
holm, nearly three hundred miles away, 
and that his own house was in great dan- 
ger. After a while he said that a great por- 
tion of the southern part of Stockholm had 
burned down, but that his own house had 
been saved. The company did not know 



69 



A VISIT TO SWEDEN BORG 



what to think about this, but Swedenborg's 
words were repeated to many in Gotten- 
burg, and great was the astonishment when 
three days later^a, messenger arrived from 
Stockholm bearing news of the fire just as 
it had been described by Swedenborg. 

" At another time he had been invited (Cfie <©ueen'£ 
to the royal castle in Stockholm, where 
the queen, Louisa Ulrica, asked him in a 
teasing way, if it was really true that he 




THE ROYAL PALACE IN STOCKHOLM 



EMANUEL SlVBDENBORG 70 

could speak with people who had left this 
world. To this he answered ' Yes,' and the 
queen, in order to try him, then asked him 
if he would be willing to carry a message 
from her to her brother, prince Augustus 
William of Prussia, who had died a short 
time before. Swedenborg replied, * With 
all my heart/ The queen, who really be- 
lieved that there was no such thing as a 
life after this, now told the courtiers about 
Swedenborg's promise, and joked a good 
deal about it, but a few days afterwards 
he came again to the castle, walked boldly 
up to the queen, and asked to speak with 
her in private. She then took him aside, 
and he now whispered a few words in her 
ear which so astonished her that she nearly 
fainted. Many great people at the court 
witnessed this scene, and the queen after- 
wards told them that Swedenborg had in- 
deed given her a message from her brother, 
and had revealed a secret which could have 
been known to none except to her brother 



71 A VISIT TO SWEDEN BORG 

and to herself. What the secret was she 
would not tell anybody, but she never again 
made merry about Swedenborg. 

" Many other similar tales were told about 
this wonderful man, but some tried to ex- 
plain them in one way, and some in another, 
and so, in order to judge for myself, I de- 
cided to look into some of the works which 
Swedenborg had written and which he had 
presented to the library of the university. 
I read and read, first from curiosity, after- 
wards with the greatest astonishment, and 
finally with the most intense joy and grati- 
tude to the Lord for the immeasurable new 
world of light which had been opened to 
me in these Writings. Then I became pos- 
sessed of an uncontrollable desire to see 
with my own eyes this most wonderful of 
all the mortals that had ever trodden this 
earth, Emanuel Swedenborg, who styled 
himself so simply, 'the servant of the Lord.' 

" And so, one day in May, 1770, I took ^uiebenbotg^ 
the stage from Upsala to Stockholm, 



EMANUEL SlVEDENBORG 



72 




SWEDENBORG'S HOUSE AND GARDEN 



where I arrived in the afternoon. The next 
day I inquired for Swedenborg's address, 
and, finding it without difficulty, I walked 
out to the southern part of the city, and up 
the ' Hornsgatan,' where Swedenborg lived. 
I finally found myself before his house, an 
old-fashioned wooden building, low and small, 
but neat and well kept, humble enough for 
so great a man, but sufficient for his wants 



73 A VISIT TO SWEDEN BORG 

as an unmarried man. 4 I knocked, and the 
door was opened by a friendly, honest-look- 
ing old woman, Fru Anderson, the wife of 
the gardener. She led me into a nicely 
furnished parlor, and courteously inquired 
what I wanted. 5 I explained why I had 
come, and heard with regret that the ' Herr 
Assessor ' had gone out for a walk. But 
as he was soon expefted home, she suggested 
that I should wait, and in the meantime take 
a look at his house and garden. The master 
would not objeft, as he kept open house to 
his many visitors. To this invitation I quickly 
agreed, and the kind-hearted, talkative old 
servant at once began to show me the rooms. 
His parlor, as I said before, was neatly fur- 
nished, but at the same time showed the ab- 
sence of the beautifying hands of a wife. In 
the middle of the room stood a curious 
marble table, inlaid with mosaic in the form 
of a pack of cards spread out loosely. 6 On 
one of the walls I noticed an old painting 
representing our mad hero, king Charles 



EMANUEL SWEDEN BORG 74 

XII. , in the midst of the fury of battle. On 
another wall was the framed patent of no- 
bility which was kept by Swedenborg as 
the head of his family. 

" But the master did not spend much time 
in his parlor, the old lady informed me, but 
was nearly always in his study, where he 
was writing day and night, year after year. 
The old servant was evidently very fond 
and proud of her master. According to her 
(and others), he was the wisest and most 
learned man in the whole world, and his 
company was sought for by all the great 
men in Sweden, the bishops of the church, 
the professors of the universities and gentle- 
men of the court ; nay, he was even received 
as a familiar friend by the members of the 
royal family. 

"At this point I began to feel myself 
rather small, and somewhat regretted my au- 
dacity in intruding myself upon so grand a 
lord ; but I regained my courage when the 
kind old soul informed me that her dear mas- 



75 A VISIT TO SH/EDENBORG 

ter, in spite of all this glory, was nevertheless 
the most humble and simple-hearted of men, 
courteous and benevolent to high and low 
alike, and cold only to some impertinent 
people who came to gaze upon him as a 
wizard or fortune-teller. 7 The only fault 
she had ever found with him was that he 
did not care to go to church, and that he 
never gave any money to the beggars ; but 
she was no longer worried about this, after 
the master had shown her that the people 
did not really worship the Lord Himself in 
the Lutheran and the other churches, but 
three Divine persons instead. As for the 
beggars, she now agreed with her master 
that they were mostly an idle lot who did 
not deserve much sympathy, but she had 
been informed by one of the officers of the 
parish, that Herr Swedenborg every year 
quietly gave a big sum of money to help 
those poor people in the neighborhood who 
did not go begging. 8 

" Chatting in this manner the old lady 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 16 

now led me into the bedroom, which was 
furnished with great simplicity. An old- 
fashioned chiffonier, a wash-stand, some 
chairs, a high bedstead in an alcove sur- 
rounded with heavy curtains, and on a wall 
a newly-painted portrait of himself, — this 
was all the furniture. A large water-pitcher 
in a bowl on the washstand surprised me 
somewhat, as some gossip had told . me that 
Swedenborg never needed to wash himself, 
inasmuch as no dirt ever clung to him. 9 
My guide told me that her master was a 
rather irregular sleeper, going to bed only 
when he was sleepy, and arising whenever 
he had slept enough. Sometimes he stayed 
in bed for days, and then nobody dared to 
disturb him, for he was then continually in 
heaven with the angels. 10 I gazed with awe 
and reverence upon this bed, where in the 
visions of the night the inhabitants of an- 
other world descended to the silent sleeper. 
To me it seemed as if I stood near the gate 
of the eternal life. 



77 A VISIT TO SWEDENBORG 

" I now followed Fru Anderson into m% ^tutu? 
the study, where Swedenborg each mor- 
ning made a fire of birch wood in the open 
grate, and prepared his simple breakfast, 
consisting generally of bread soaked in hot 
milk. The Herr Assessor did not seem to 
need a great deal of food, I was told, and 
seldom ate any meat, but was rather fond 
of coffee, which he took at any time in the 
day, always filling the cup half full of 
sugar. 11 

" Looking about in this study, where 
Swedenborg had written nearly all of the 
Sacred Writings of the New Church, I was 
astonished at the absence of books and 
bookcases. Nothing of this kind was to be 
seen, except, on a table, the Word in He- 
brew, Greek, and Latin, a set of his own 
theological writings, and some manuscript 
indexes to these works. These were all he 
needed now: the rest of his library was 
kept in a small house in the garden. On 
his writing-table there was nothing except a 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 78 

handsome inkstand, a goosequill pen, and 
the yet unfinished manuscript of his great 
work, The True Christian Religion, on which 
he was still at work. 12 

" Spellbound I looked at this writing- 
table, where the light of heavenly truth had 
come down to earth in the form of written 
words. And in these words the Lord Him- 
self is now speaking openly with men. He 
has come again as the Divine Truth itself, 
and yet how few have listened to His 
voice ! But we must wait with patience ; 
wait for hundreds of years, perhaps, until 
the eyes and ears of men be opened for the 
truth. In time it will, be received, though 
the opposing darkness be as strong as death 
and as black as hell. I looked up over the 
table, through the open window. Outside, 
in the garden, I saw the signs of early 
spring — our lovely northern spring. The 
fruit-trees were budding and blossoming, the 
snowdrops and narcissuses were swaying to 
and fro in the balmy wind which wafted 



19 A VISIT TO SWEDENBORG 

their fragrance to me, together with the 
clear notes of a flock of migrator) r birds 
above, who were returning from their south- 
ern homes. There was spring in the north, 
and signs of spring in human hearts. The 
truth had come again into the world, like 
a breath from heaven. The winter of the 
church was passing away, and here, in this 
lowly dwelling, lived the herald of that 
new age which was to restore to mankind 
the youth and beauty of a never-ending 
spring. 

" Out of these meditations I was %i$ <6ar&en 
finally awakened by my guide, who now 
invited me to come out into the garden. 
Here we met her husband, the gardener, a 
kindly old man, who eagerly began to show 
me the things of interest in his special do- 
main. Among the trees I noticed a variety 
of choice fruit-trees and a number of box- 
trees which, in the fashion of those days, 
were clipped and trimmed into the shape 
of various animals and ornamental figures. 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 80 

In front of the house there were several 
large flowerbeds, containing rare Dutch tu- 
lips and other early flowers. At the side 
of the house was a small conservatory, in 
which were kept palms and other southern 
plants. The gardener said that his old mas- 
ter loved these flowers and plants almost 
as tenderly as if they were his children. 13 
But he loved still better little human chil- 
dren. 'The little folks always miss him 
greatly when he goes away on his foreign 
journeys/ the old man continued. ' They 
are his special favorites. He often allows 
them to play in his garden, and sometimes 
joins in their games and merriment. They 
are always on the lookout when he is com- 
ing, for he generally has his pocket full of 
cakes and goodies for them/ For their 
special amusement he had built a maze or 
labyrinth of boards in the garden, so con- 
trived that no one who had entered could 
find the way out without his help. 14 There 
were several other little buildings in the 



81 



A VISIT TO SIVEDENBORG 



garden. One was his ' summer house/ where 
he kept his library. Another was built so 
that he could, by pressing a button, sud- 
denly change it from a square to an o6la~ 
gon. In this building there was also a 
blind door, which, when opened, showed 
another door with a window in it, as it 
seemed. But when I walked up to it I 
was surprised to behold — only myself ! The 
i window ' was only a large mirror. 

" The gardener laughingly told me that 
the old master derived 
much amusement from 
this arrangement, especial- 
ly when inquisitive young 
ladies were investigating 
the nooks and corners of 
his large garden. Once 
a pretty maiden begged 
that * Uncle Swedenborg 
would please show her one 
of his angels,' and as she 
would not be put off, he 




SWEDENBORG'S SUMMER HOUSE 



EMANUEL SJVEDENBORG 82 

led her to this door and smilingly opened 
it, saying, ' Now, my dear, you shall see an 
angel/ But she saw only her own blush- 
ing face. 15 

" Much interested in all this, I was about 
to say farewell, to come again at another 
time, when we were met by the gardener's 
wife, who announced that the Herr Assess- 
or had just returned from his walk and 
would be pleased to see me in the parlor. 
Delighted, but somewhat fearful, I walked 
quickly to the house, and was met at the 
door by Emanuel Swedenborg himself, who 
greeted me with a friendly smile and led 
me into the room, 
^toetumbora'p "I was surprised to see in this very 

old gentleman an ereft and lively per- 
son, somewhat thin and pale, perhaps, but 
strong and manly. His bearing was digni- 
fied and venerable, his face thoughtful, re- 
fined and innocent, and there was about 
his whole person something unusual, an at- 
mosphere of purity and holiness such as I 



83 A VISIT TO SIVEDENBORC 

cannot exactly describe. On his head he 
wore a powdered wig, like all other gentle- 
men of that time. His mouth was large 
and firm, but always softened by a gentle 
smile. His nose was straight and strong, 
and his eyes were large and of a deep clear 
blue. They were really remarkable eyes, 
gentle and soft, yet earnest and penetrating, 
as if he could read beyond my face the 
naked features of my very soul. 16 

" My host now invited me to take a seat, 
and asked what he could do for me. I 
briefly told him my name, and stated that 
I had not come out of mere curiosity, but 
from the desire to express to him my grati- 
tude for all the wonderful things which I 
had learned through the books which he 
had written, and that I had become firmly 
convinced that the do6lrines of the New 
Jerusalem were the truth itself. At these 
words the face of Swedenborg was lit up 
with a tender light ; his eyes for a moment 
seemed filled with tears of joy, and he 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 84 

warmly pressed my hand, saying quickly, 
'Good! good!' 17 Then he added, solemnly, 
' But give the thanks to the Lord alone. I 
am only a servant. The truth is from the 
Lord alone, who prepared me for my office 
from my early youth, and who filled me 
with His Spirit to teach the do6lrines of 
the New Church through the Word, from 
Him/ 

" I sat silent for some moments, ponder- 
ing over this statement, and then asked, Ts 
there not, then, anything in all your writ- 
ings that is from yourself or from your 
own genius and learning?' To this he an- 
swered very earnestly, 'I can solemnly tes- 
tify, in the name of truth, that from the 
first day of my call I have not received 
anything whatever from myself, or from 
any spirit or angel, respecting- the clo6lrines 
of the New Church, but from the Lord 
alone, while reading the Word. When I 
think of what I am about to write, and 
while I am writing, I possess a perfeft in- 



85 A VISIT TO SIVEDENBORG 

spiration, for otherwise it would be my 
own, but now I know for certain that what 
I write is the living truth of God.' 18 

" Encouraged by his kindness and evi- 
dent pleasure in dwelling on these great 
subjefts, I now asked him question after 
question concerning other teachings which 
were still somewhat obscure to me. To all 
of these he gave most clear and convinc- 
ing answers, speaking slowly, and at times 
with a slight stuttering. While we were 
thus conversing, another visitor was an- 
nounced, in whom I was delighted to recog- 
nize a former comrade of mine at the uni- 
versity, Sir Carl Robsahm, who, I found, 
was a great friend of Swedenborg's, and a 
frequent visitor to his house. 

" He had come, he said, to invite the 
Herr Assessor to his house for supper, and 
he now extended the same invitation to 
myself. Swedenborg, who much enjoyed a 
social gathering of friends, cheerfully ac- 
cepted the invitation and withdrew to his 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 86 

bedroom to change his dress. When, after 
a few moments, he appeared again, he was 
dressed no longer in his usual simple cos- 
tume of black knee-breeches and brown 
coat, but in the garb of the courtier and 
fine gentleman of high society. He now 
wore a suit of black velvet with much fine 
lace at the neck and the wrists, silk stock- 
ings, and low shoes with jewelled buckles. 
At his side he carried a small sword, curi- 
ously hilted and inlaid with silver. In one 
hand he had his gold-trimmed three-cornered 
hat, and in the other a gold-headed cane. 
Altogether, he appeared as handsome and 
elegant a gentleman of the old type as 
could be found anywhere. Just before we 
started out, he produced a silver snuff-box, 
which he passed around, and then with a 
small golden spoon ceremoniously lifted to 
his nose a few grains of the perfumed 
Spanish snuff, which was then the fashion 
in aristocratic circles. 19 




SWEDENBORG IN HIS PARLOR, STOCKHOLM 
{Sivedenborg was a taller man than is represented by the artist in this pitture) 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG %% 

%w persona* "As we were walking along I was 

again astonished at the wonderful youth- 
fulness of this very old gentleman. He was 
as quick on his feet as the youngest man, 
and walked, in fa£t, more briskly than was 
my own custom. He noticed everything 
about him, and entertained us young men 
with his lively conversation, spiced now 
and then with bright but innocent wit. 20 

"When arrived at the mansion of Sir 
Robsahm we found with our young and 
charming hostess a small company of other 
guests who hailed with much delight their 
old friend, Swedenborg, for he was respe6led 
and admired by all, whether they agreed 
with his teachings or not. Among the 
guests I noticed Count von Hopken, the 
former prime minister of Sweden, who was, 
perhaps, Swedenborg's most intimate friend ; 
Archbishop Troilius, who agreed with Swed- 
enborg in politics, but disagreed in religion, 
and a Russian priest, named Oronoskow, 
who was the chaplain to the Russian am- 



89 A VISIT TO SIVEDENBORG 

bassador and who also was a believer in 
Swedenborg's writings. 

" At the table Swedenborg ate but little, 
but with much relish. He joined heartily 
in the toast to his royal majesty, the king, 
but filled his glass half full with sugar, and 
could not be induced to take more than 
two or three glasses of wine, — a thing which 
rather astonished the other gentlemen, to 
whom such moderation in drinking was not 
a usual sight. 21 

" During the conversation the Russian 
chaplain asked Swedenborg whether he had 
ever seen the late empress Elizabeth of 
Russia in the other life. To this he re- 
ceived the answer that she was now in a 
very happy state, as she had been a truly 
good woman at heart, and had always 
prayed to the Lord for counsel and assist- 
ance in the sfovernment of her countrv. 
This answer so delighted the Russian that 
he was moved to tears of joy in hearing 
this news of ' the little mother,' as the em- 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 90 

press had been called by her loving peo- 
ple. 22 

" There was a wonderful sphere about 
Swedenborg's conversation. Whenever he 
spoke all other voices were hushed, and 
even those who were inclined to ridicule 
were shamed into silence, as this most ven- 
erable old man, with his smiling, innocent 
eyes, told these unheard-of things, strange 
and yet unanswerable, concerning a world 
so far and yet so near to us. 23 

" After supper, while the other gentle- 
men went to enjoy a game of cards, Swed- 
enborg and some of the younger men re- 
mained with the ladies, who seemed grate- 
ful for this attention. Some of the young- 
er ladies, I noticed, seemed to be rather 
amused at the faft that the old gentleman, 
in a certain absent-mindedness, had put on 
odd shoes, one having a buckle of gems, 
and the other a buckle of silver. But then, 
he had no wife in this world to look after 
such little things, 24 



91 A VISIT TO SIVEDENBORG 

" After some small talk on various sub- 
jects, such as the pet cats and little dogs 
in the room who jumped up on his knees 
to show their little tricks, Swedenborg hap- 
pened to see a harpsichord and at once re- 
quested the ladies to favor us with some 
music. During the performance of a diffi- 
cult and celebrated sonata, he beat the time 
with his foot and seemed to enjoy the 
music greatly. This friend of flowers and 
children and the gentle sex could not but 
include music also in his love of all things 
innocent and beautiful. 25 

" Promptly at seven o'clock Swedenborg 
took his leave, explaining that he never 
stayed out after that hour. I accompanied 
him on his way. Never will I forget that 
walk in the mysterious twilight of our 
northern spring. The most memorable day 
of my life was drawing to a close. I could 
not hope to meet again this citizen of two 
worlds, this man among men and angel 
among the angels, for he told me that he 



EMANUEL SJVEDENBORG 92 

would soon leave Sweden for Amsterdam, 
where he would publish his last great work, 
The True Christian Religion. Most useful 
had this visit been to me. I felt that though 
he was the best and wisest among men, he 
still was but a man, my elder brother in 
the Lord's New Church. I felt, when he 
was explaining to me the mysteries of my 
new faith, that he himself was not the in- 
ventor or discoverer of the Do6lrines of 
the New Jerusalem, but that they had been 
given to him from the Lord Himself. 

" When at last our all-too-short walk 
was at an end, and I regretfully bade him 
adieu before his door, he affectionately 
pressed my hand, and earnestly advised mc 
to continue in my study of the Do6lrines 
of the New Church, and not only to believe 
in them, but also to live according to their 
teachings. 
i£is Ia# " I saw him no more. In July of 

the same year he left Sweden, never to 
return. Having published his book in Hoi- 



93 A VISIT TO SIVEDENBORG 

land, he went to London in 1771, and about 
Christmas time had an attack of paralysis, 
which made him lame and speechless for a 
few weeks. After this he recovered some- 
what, and was even able to write a little ; 
but he knew that his time had come, and 
even told the people about him the exa<5t 
day on which he would die. 

" My friend, the Rev. Arvid Ferelius, was 
at this time the minister of the Swedish 
church in London, and often visited Swed- 
enborg during his last illness. The faithful 
old servant of the Lord looked forward to 
death as joyfully as a schoolboy looks to- 
wards his holidays. During the last visit 
Ferelius asked him if in his many books he 
had written what was really true. Swed- 
enborg then lifted himself up in his bed, 
put his hand upon his heart, and said w T ith 
great earnestness, ' As true as you see me 
here, and as true as I live, I have not writ- 
ten anything from myself, but the truth 
from God. And if you will pay attention 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 94 

to the truth you will come to see every- 
thing, and we shall some time in eternity 
have important things to talk over together/ 
Pastor Ferelius afterwards began to read 
the Writings of the New Church, and be- 
came a zealous receiver of the truth. 
$i» ®eath " ^ ^ ew ^ays afterwards, on the after- 

noon of the twenty-ninth of March — 
the day he had foretold — he awakened from 
a slumber and asked the women who were 
watching in his room what time of day it 
was. They answered that it was about five 
% o'clock. He then said, ' It is well. I thank 
you. God bless you ;' and lovingly bade 
them farewell. A few minutes afterwards 
he breathed a gentle sigh, and his great 
spirit passed into that world where he so 
long had had his real home. Never will 
this world see such another man," 26 



VII 

Swedenborg's %ules of Life 



WRITTEN FOR HIS OWN USE AND FOUND AMONG HIS 

MANUSCRIPTS 



I. Diligently to read and meditate upon 
the Word of God. 

II. To be content under the dispensa- 
tions of the Divine Providence. 

III. To observe a propriety of behavior 
and to preserve the conscience pure. 

IV. To discharge with fidelity the func- 
tions of my employments and the duties of 
my office, and to make myself in all things 
useful to society. 



APPENDIX I 



CHILDREN IN HEAVEN 



Among all that Swedenborg heard and 
saw in the spiritual world nothing can be 
more beautiful than \v r hat he learned about 
the little children in heaven. First of all 
he found that the whole Christian world 
had been totally wrong in believing that 
only those children could go to heaven 
who had been baptized into the Christian 
church. Before his time people had actu- 
ally believed that little children could go 
to hell ; that all the innocent babies and 
infants of heathen people would be con- 
demned to eternal suffering, simply because 
they had not been baptized before they 
died ! And yet the Lord Himself had 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 98 

taught His disciples : " Suffer little children 
and forbid them not to come unto Me, for of 
such is the kingdom of heaven." 

But now, in order that a New Church 
should be raised up which should not for- 
bid any little ones to come unto the Lord, 
Swedenborg was allowed to learn very par- 
ticularly what becomes of the many little 
children who pass away from this world, 
and he has brought us the good tidings 
that not a single child is lost, but that all are 
taken up into heaven, and grow up there 
and become angels, no matter who their 
parents may have been, or whether they 
had been baptized or not. And, what is 
astonishing, he found that a third part of 
heaven, immense as it is, consists of those 
who had died when they were young. 27 

Now, as soon as a baby or a child dies 
in this world., the little spirit is at once 
raised up in the other life, and wakes up 
strong and well in the sunlight of heaven, 
as bright as a bird on a summer morning. 



99 CHILDREN IN HEAVEN 

In every way he or she is better off than 
before, being no longer clothed with the 
sickly earth-body, but now in such a body 
as the angels have. Here the youngest in- 
fants are at once able to walk and run 
about, without any praftice, and even to 
speak the heavenly language, though at 
first they may lisp and stutter a bit. 28 

Nor do they find themselves alone, but 
the Lord immediately sends the loveliest 
women-angels to nurse them and take care 
of them. For the love of infants is part of 
the very life of every good woman, and 
those who had most tenderly loved little 
children in this world could not be perfect- 
ly happy even in heaven, if they could not 
have children always about them. 29 These 
angels now take the young spirits in their 
arms as lovingly as if they were their own 
children, and carry them to their beautiful 
houses in heaven, and make them feel at 
home there. The children at once call these 
angels " mother," but they are taught to call 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 100 

no one father except their heavenly Father, 
whose face they constantly see before them 
in the glorious Sun of heaven. 30 

The education of children is one of the 
chief delights and occupations of all the an- 
gels in heaven, but there are certain socie- 
ties which are especially devoted to this 
use, and the best and highest of these are 
those which have the care of the very little 
ones. 31 Here these live with their beautiful 
angel-mothers and their kind and wise fos- 
ter-fathers, and grow up under the imme- 
diate view of the Lord Himself. 32 They still 
need careful training, for not only are they 
very ignorant, at first, but they also carry 
with them from the earth the same tenden- 
cies to selfishness and foolishness that be- 
long- to all the children of our fallen race. 
Such weeds must be rooted out before the 
children can become real angels, and this is 
done in heaven far more wisely and thor- 
oughly than on the earth. In order, there- 
fore, that the children may become pure 



IOi CHILDREN IN HEAVEN 

and perfect as the angels are, the Lord per- 
mits their evil tendencies to come forth at 
times into naughty desires and bad thoughts, 
but as soon as this happens they are at 
once shown what such things would lead 
them to, and they are then tilled with such 
horror for this evil that they never do it, 
but flee away from it as from some fear- 
some ghost. 33 

Each child is, of course, different from 
all the rest, and each one is brought up in 
a special manner most suitable to it, 34 but in 
general all are trained by cultivating their 
affecStions or love of what is beautiful and 
pure and holy. They are taught to pray 
to the Lord Jesus Christ as to their loving 
Father in the heavens, asking and receiving 
from Him all that their innocent hearts de- 
sire. They are taught to have great rever- 
ence for His holy Word and for all things 
of the Church and of worship. They are 
taught to obey because they are taught to 
love, and not, as so often happens on earth, 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG .102 

to be selfish and conceited, and to quarrel 
and fight. 35 They are surrounded, within 
and without their homes, with lovelier things 
than can be described or imagined. Their 
dolls and playtoys appear as if living to 
them. 36 Beautiful garments are given new 
to them each day from the Lord. Delight- 
ful gardens surround each home, and mag- 
nificent paradises and parks exist in the 
outskirts of each heavenly society or city. 
Here the children are allowed to play. 
Swedenborg saw them there, decked and 
adorned with garlands of flowers, and when 
a company of these gay little children en- 
tered into one of those paradises, he not- 
iced that the very flowers beamed forth 
with increased brightness and beauty. 37 The 
very air they breathe is filled with music 
and splendor, sometimes sparkling as if with 
diamonds and rubies and rainbows, at other 
times as if filled with the tiny faces of smil- 
ing infants. 38 

In such surroundings, what wonder if 



103 CHILDREN IN HEAVEN 

they forget all about the less beautiful earth 
they came from, and believe that they were 
born in heaven as the blessed children of 
the Lord. No more do they long to return 
to this world of ours than a butterfly longs 
to come back to his cocoon. 39 

Not only are they thus enjoying them- 
selves, and learning to love what the an- 
gels love; they are also of the greatest use 
to us on earth, although neither they nor 
we are aware of it. For the Lord at times 
uses them as His special little messengers 
to us, when we are in trouble and when 
evil spirits infest us. When the infant-spir- 
its then come near, they bring with them 
an atmosphere of innocence and peace which 
is more than the wicked spirits can bear. 
The evil ones hate the very smell of heaven, 
and so they flee away and leave us in peace. 
In this manner the little ones of heaven are 
really the prote6lors of us strong men on 
earth. 40 And again, these infants are very 
often allowed to come and play with the 



EMANUEL SWEDEN BORG 104 

very small children on earth as with their 
own dolls and comrades. The old folks 
cannot see them, but the babies feel their 
presence, and that may be the reason why 
a baby sometimes crows and laughs so 
sweetly "at nothing at all," when we leave 
it alone. 41 

If people only knew and believed what 
the Lord has told us through Swedenborg, 
they surely would not cry so hard and 
break their hearts when one of their chil- 
dren dies. How much better for the child, 
and how much better for us, who then have 
become connected with heaven and drawn 
nearer to it by a new and living influence. 
It is selfish to mourn too much over the 
good fortune of those we love. Nor is it 
true that we will never see them again. 
When we ourselves die we can see our lit- 
tle brothers and sisters and sons and daugh- 
ters who have gone before us. Swedenborg 
witnessed many such meetings, and tells us 
especially of a grown-up man who in the 



105 CHILDREN IN HEAVEN 

other life met a brother who had died in 
infancy and had been brought up in heaven. 
This one spoke so tenderly to the newcom- 
er, and showed such a brotherly affeftion, 
that the latter was moved to tears in his 
presence. For children and angels are loves, 
and love can never forget. 42 

But the children in heaven do not always 
remain infants. As in this world, they grow 
older, and as they develop they need a dif- 
ferent kind of training at each different 
age. When, therefore, they are about sev- 
en years old, they are transferred to differ- 
ent homes and societies. 43 The boys are 
given into the care of angel masters or 
teachers, who instru6l them most carefully 
in all the things that are necessary to know 
for their future uses and life in heaven. 
Most of the man-angels are teachers, in one 
way or another, and the schools in the spir- 
itual world are far more numerous and per- 
fect than those in this world. Nearly every- 
body, old or young, who comes from the 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 106 

earth, has to go to school for some time in 
the other life, before he is fit to enter 
heaven. Think of all the good people who 
die all about us and who are in the deep- 
est ignorance about true religion and heav- 
enly life ! All such are taught and prepared 
in places of instruction, but the children 
have schools of their own, where they are 
taught especially by means of representations 
or living pictures which present to the eye 
the very image of that about which the 
teacher is instructing them. 44 Everything is 
thus illustrated, everything is quickly un- 
derstood, and the school-children can learn 
ten times faster and many times more than 
they can learn in the same time on earth. 
Then, as they grow older, they are sent to 
other and higher schools, called " gymnasi- 
ums/' where the young men are taught es- 
pecially by means of discussions on some 
given subjecft. The younger pupils express 
their opinions first, then the older and wiser 
ones, and finally the head master sums up 



107 CHILDREN IN HEAVEN 

the discussion, and tells the real truth on 
the subje6l. At such discussions about spir- 
itual things, beautiful flames of lightning 
are seen above the " temples of wisdom" in 
which the meetings are held, and when the 
conclusion is reached a gentle murmur of 
thunder is heard, as a sign from the Lord 
that the truth has been spoken. 45 

But their sports are not only intellect- 
ual ; they also have games of physical skill 
of various kinds, with balls and other things, 
and trials of skill of all sorts, at which the 
boys who are the brightest and quickest 
receive the prize. Finally, when their edu- 
cation is completed, which is when they are 
about eighteen years of age, they are sent 
forth from their schools, arrayed in the 
" wedding garment," and they are then called 
no longer boys or youths, but " disciples 
of the Lord." 46 

The young girls are educated in a some- 
what different manner. 47 After they leave 
their first nurses, they are given into the 



EMANUEL SWEDEN BORG 108 

hands of married women teachers, and are 
kept in their homes, three or four together, 
each one having her own bedchamber, where 
she keeps her clothes and keepsakes. Here 
they are regularly taught, in ways most 
suitable to girls, not so much about the 
mere fa£ts of science and the particular 
reasons and arguments of doftrine, as about 
what is becoming and wise in life. They 
are thus educated especially by cultivating 
their affection of truth and of wisdom, to- 
gether with the love of embodying these in 
corresponding beautiful forms. They are 
particularly instructed in the art of embroid- 
ery and decoration, in music and the fine 
arts, and, as they grow up, they are also 
taught how to take care of the little infants 
whom the Lord is ever calling from this 
world. Every girl naturally loves fine cloth- 
ing, and so they find new dresses in their 
closets every day, but if they should desire 
or think anything that is wrong, they sud- 
denly discover spots on their garments which 



109 CHILDREN IN HEAVEN 

cannot be removed until they have exam- 
ined their hearts and repented of the evils 
that caused the spots ; then the blemishes 
vanish of themselves. In the same way, 
if they see any of their garments miss- 
ing from their rooms, they know at once 
that they have a6led wrongly, but if they 
receive a new garment they recognize it as 
a sign that they have a6led well. Each one, 
also, has her own little garden, in which 
the loveliest flowers grow in abundance, 
but as long as she is an unmarried girl only 
flowers grow there, but no fruit, until she 
becomes a wife. Now if she notices that 
the flowers in her garden seem drooping or 
less bright than before, or if coarser plants 
appear there, she knows that something 
needs to be amended in her own heart and 
mind, but if the flowers seem bright, and 
new and nobler plants appear, she knows 
that it is well with her. Coins and orna- 
ments of silver and gold are given to the 
girls as keepsakes and rewards for diligence 



EMANUEL SJVEDENBORG 1 10 

and virtue. Each one has a copy of the 
written Word, and also hymn books and 
other books for instruftion and spiritual de- 
light. They read daily in these, but if some- 
times they negle6l to read, they find that 
some of their garments are missing, or their 
little gardens vanish. 48 The boys and the 
girls are brought up separately, but still 
those who are in the same society sometimes 
meet, and have plays and games together, 
under the supervision of their masters and 
governesses. 

Finally, when they are full-grown maid- 
ens, which is when they are about fifteen 
years of age, the Lord leads each one to 
meet the youth who has been born and 
educated for her and for her alone. They 
meet as if by chance, but both instantly 
know that they are intended for one another. 
Then, after considering this for some time, 
they meet again and declare their love, and 
are betrothed. 49 The marriage itself is cele- 
brated in the heavenly society where the 



Ill CHILDREN IN HEAVEN 

young man has been brought up, but after- 
wards he follows his bride into her society, 
where a home is provided for them by the 
Lord. They are now angels and members 
of the Heavenly Kingdom, and they remain 
with one another as husband and wife, in a 
confidence and love and bliss that increase 
to eternity. 50 



APPENDIX II 



LIST OF REFERENCES 



For the convenience of those who may 
desire to investigate further in respeft to 
some of the statements made in this little 
work, we add the following list of authori- 
ties referred to by numbers in the volume 
itself. D. stands for the Documents concern- 
ing Swedenborg, by Dr. R. L. Tafel ; A.C. 
for the Arcana Ccelestia ; H.H. for Heaven 
and Hell ; C.L. for Conjugial Love ; and 
S.D. for the Spiritual Diary: all of these 
by Swedenborg. 

i. (p. 31.) D. i. p. 699. 

2. (p. 47.) D. ii. 158. 

3. (p. 48.) D. i. 36 ; ii. 426 ; S.D. 397. 

4. (p. 73.) D. i. 31, 32 ; ii. 398, 400. 

5. (p. 73.) D. ii, 730. 



113 



LIST OF REFERENCES 



7- 
8. 

9- 
io. 
ii. 

12. 

13- 

14. 

16. 

17- 

18. 

19- 
20. 
21. 

22. 

23- 
24. 

25- 
26. 

27. 

28. 
29. 
30. 
3i. 
32. 
33- 
34- 
35- 



^P 


73- 


) D. 


i- 33> 57. 


(p 


75- 


) D. 1 


. 7 ; ii. 560. 


(p 


75- 


D. 1 


1. 36, 42, 64. 


(p 


76. 


) D. 


i- 33; ii- 56i. 


(p 


76. 


) D. 


. 32, 40. 


(p 


77- 


D. 


L 32. 


(p 


78. 


) D. 


i- 32 ; ii. 545. 


(p 


80. 


) D. 


i- 33; ii- 714. 


(p 


80. 


) D. 


i. 446. 


(p 


82. 


) D. 


l. 32 ; ii. 725. 


(p 


33. 


) D. 


i. 33 ; ii. 399, 403, 423, 450-455- 


(p 


s 4 :; 


D. 1 


. 41. 


(p 


85. 


) D. 


ii. 404. 


(p 


86. 


) D. 


ii- 435, 459, 544, 7H- 


(p 


88. 


) D. 


Li. 450. 


(p 


89. 


) D. 


l. 32 ; ii. 449. 


(p 


90. 


) I?. 1 


• 37- 


(p 


90. 


) D. i 


. 34 ; ii. 445, 446, 485. 


(p 


90/ 


) D. 


• 33- 


(p 


9 1 - 


) D. 


Li. 435-433. 


(p 


94»: 


D. 1 


i. 535, 542, 546, 549, 557, 558. 


(p 


98/ 


) H.l 


7. 4, 416. 


(p 


99- ^ 


H.l 


7. 331 J S.D. 5668. 


(p 


99- 


H.l 


£ 332. 


>p 


100 


) T. 


C.R. 729; C.L. 411; 5.£>. 5668 


(p 


100 


) H. 


H. 391. 


(p 


100 


) H. 


H. 333-335. 


(p 


IOI 


) S.j 


D. 5668. 


(p 


IOI 


) A. 


C. 2301. 


(p 


102 


) A. 


C. 2309. 



EMANUEL SIVEDENBORG 



114 



36, 

37 
38 

39' 
40, 

4i 
42 

43 
44 
45 
46, 

47 
48, 

49 
50 



(p. 102. 
(p. 102. 

(p. I02, 

(P- I03. 

(P- 103. 

(p. IO4. 

(p. I05. 

(p. 105. 

(p. IO6, 

(P- 107. 
(p. 107. 
(p. I07. 

(p. no. 

(p. no. 

(p. III. 



A. C. 2298. 

A.C. 2296; H.H. 337; S.D. 4354. 

A. C 1621, 2297. 

H.H. 345; S.D. 5668. 

S.D. 3546, 3561. 

A. C 2295. 

A.C. 2304; H.H. 340; S.Z?. 3146, 3545. 

H.H 334-336. 

CZ. 261, 412. 

C.L. 207, 315. 

C.L. 17, 444. 

C.Z. 410. 

S.D. 5660-5667. 

H.H. 383; C.L. 44, 187, 229. 

CZ. 411. 



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